As Emeril would say

BAM!!  Lightning struck right next to our huge oak tree.  Thankful it wasn't a few feet over and didn't kill the tree.  But blast it, it did.  Dead limbs were shattered and the large squirrel nest near the top exploded.  Some of it was hanging from it's perch but most was on the ground along with the wood pieces.  We were without internet and phones.  Today the technician came out for service.  Yesterday I spent the entire afternoon standing outside on pavement in 90+ heat for almost an hour with many people ahead of me.  Twice.  Spectrum's policy is one person per employee so two are allowed inside.  After the first replacement modem did not work, back in line I went.  The male employee was rude, snotty, and a real pr**k.  The second modem did not work.  My $5 cell phone has no bars in my area and I was running all over the yard as if in a Verizon commercial.  "Can you hear me now?"  After dozens of failed calls, I got through for activation of both new modems.  They activated.  With the wrong codes.  So the wonderful tech got us going, but my 5 cordless phones set has to be replaced, which will come Sunday.   Then I found out that the tablet I purchased for Carole cannot be used on her plan because they didn't tell me it needs to be 4G/cellular.  It's wireless without that feature.  Useless since she does not have internet, only cell service.  Great.  I had asked her many times to contact Verizon and get the info for me but as usual, she does nothing I ask.  Now she won't be getting a new tablet because they are all more than I expected to pay.  Yes, I've been a crabass.

So my new project is the sweetie I showed back in May (canNOT believe it was that long ago and August is next week).  Of course, I am changing it.  The house bricks will be a darker mustard and brown, the birds will be more of a feature.  And I didn't want the bottom area.  So Paint to the rescue!  After many attempts at colors for house and birds and flowers, I decided on the pale rose breast and two shades of gray.  Or maybe the dark blue.  But definitely with a straight and simple bottom border.  Flowers may end up a darker rose than the breasts, if not, pale gold, otherwise it looks too fussy to me.  The first is the original, and far right what I will stitch.

And for those that are surprised about cat's spray ruining anything, it does.  My new shrubs that weren't protected by the prickly mats are brown at the bottom, and this area of white on the A/C is how the ammonia in their spray/urine corroded the fins.

Petey is the real culprit but a lot of the damage happened before he arrived.  The spray is minimal and a way of marking territory, but potent!  Males just lift their tail as they casually walk by, stop for a second, and continue walking.  The barn the barrels the posts the trees the plant stands his house my house doors benches everything!!

And then they sleep.  

Have a good Wednesday!!

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It' all over but the shouting

Or screaming.  I have to finish the over one in the body.

I can't tell you how many wacky errors in placement there are in this area and you don't want to hear them.  But you probably will.  How can a position be two stitches over (whether intentional or not) and yet be aligned with the other motif, or three stitches off in the opposite direction?  It really doesn't matter but that frustrates me to no end.   I moved the right side vase over to the border as the left side which I like much better.  I didn't change the position of the floral balls to match but did line up the leaves to the same extension as the left.   But that blue spotted llama was moved two stitches yet is correct to the center motif which is perfectly aligned. The bottom border was moved two to the right and it's two to the left from the center motif.   WTH???  Oh well.  I've wasted enough time and am happy with the outcome, but HOW did that happen?

I found a beautiful fungus this morning.  Worthy of Instagram?

Still playing with the tablet and blowing my mind, and I can easily post to Instagram but the photos are not very clear.  I am amazed at some on the close ups I see from phones and read that Samsung is the best for that.  We'll see.  

Yesterday we stained the 43"square surround Mark made to keep the brats away from the new air conditioner we're getting in two weeks.  They destroyed this one from spraying which deteriorated the condenser fins (you can see the white bottom area through the slats). The new one has more coverage on the sides but that spray can still get inside so we decided this would be the best solution.  Home Depot online had picket slats in bundles but their stock was depleted.  So we purchased the 1x6 treated rough sawn pine six footers and cut them in half, cut off the dog eared edge and slapped it together.  Even if the spray goes through, it won't reach the unit.  We'll buy screening and staple it to the inside top to prevent leaves and tree debris which is always a problem too.  

Hope the weekend is going well.  It's hot here, expecting storms.  Stay safe!!

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After the rain

Flowers add beauty but you can be stunning without decoration too.

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Closing in

A checkered stag (or spotted?), the side border, it won't be long now!!

Hope you're having a good week!

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One more page

and this will be a finish.

I don't like the bare top of the center stem but it is what it is. 

The base of the pot is void of stitching and may be filled with satin.

The brats have been on their own sleeping in shrubs and avoiding me.  But Petey is sticking close to me and wanting stroked, I've been obliging.  A half hour after my last close encounter, my stomach started itching and I assumed a skeeter bite.  But there was a tiny black pinhead protrusion, and after my Dazor light and mag, in addition to a pair of 4.0 mags, there it was.   A tick.  The tiniest of ticks, the Lyme carrying ones.  So I am swelled and red, waiting to see what develops over the next few days.  Can I squirt the tube on his neck without wasting this expensive flea/tick remedy?  I seriously doubt it.  

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Wren

Hopefully this will help when deciding on a PTP linen, whenever they are back in stock.  The Wren looks to be Flax with tan mottling.  Legacy is more yellow, Heartland even more.  One piece of Legacy I received a while ago is my favorite with less yellow background, more neutral and leaning to Flax.  Whatever!!  You all know I have a phobia about color.  Seeing completed projects compared to the actual linen is misleading because they don't seem to be as dark after stitching.

The Vellum that I showed in the prior comparison is the lightest ordered.  If I knew where it was, I would have included it.  But you saw it already so it's all good.  One more that I need to try - Faun.  Almost ordered Fawn by mistake (Lakeside?) but the PTP is spelled with a U.  Haven't found a piece yet and looks very contrasted in photos, but you can't believe what you see because every piece is different.

Have a great weekend!!

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